Gradual Subjugation
by Sapphire225
Summary: A somewhat side-story to Lnzy1's "Domestic Liberation." It is easy to forget that no one has full immunity in the world. Everyone is susceptible. Absolutely no one is safe.
1. Chapter 1

YAY! I really need to update the rest of my stories, but this story, I think I'll be more active on.

I've received permission from the wonderful author, **Lnzy1**, to write a side story to her story, _**Domestic Liberation**_. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you should since it is kick-aft and very well written. Those who like relationships between humans and transformers or are suckers for "the human pet" factor will adore this story. I can't guarantee that it'll be as well written as her stories, but I'll do my best to make it as believable as possible.

Disclaimer: I do not own the transformers. If I did, I wouldn't be on this site now, would I? But then again, if I did, my storyline would probably suck…big time… ^_^' But Jazz would still be alive. I think that is an upside! And should any _certain _characters are noticed, they belong to Lnzy1.

Anyway, here it is: Gradual Subjugation

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_**March 19**__**th**__**, 2007 **_

_Mom forgot to turn off the teapot again. Only this time, the water had long boiled out and melted to the burners. This happened while I was at school. Nothing too big a deal, had we not been broke. So I paid for a new one, since mom wouldn't receive her paycheck until Friday and I had burned the last teapot. It must be a hereditary thing or something. _

_

* * *

_

_**Click… click… click**_

"Mr. Roe, you in danger of failing my class. I suggest you pay attention."

Amy chuckled a bit when the dirty blonde unsteadily raised his head from the desk top, propping one arm under his chin and letting out an audible groan. Mr. Chester glowered down at the boy before continuing down the row of desks. "If you wanted to sleep, then you should have chosen a different class. I'm not like Mrs. Vrenner, who allows children to sleep and get points knocked off. This is an honors Physics and if you continue to lay your head down-which is against my third policy- in my class, you'll have to explain to your parents why you received the grade you get on your report card."

The balding man returned to the board, grabbing the small blue chalk piece and finishing the objective set for the class of seniors and juniors. Nigel let out a small yawn before pulling out his cell phone, hiding it behind the width of the desk before texting to another student, the teacher fully oblivious to his actions.

Amy shook her head as she looked back up to the board, twiddling her blue pen between her fingers as she dazedly glanced at the very neat cursive on the board, one only a Science and English teacher could master. After a few seconds, he finally placed his chalk down before glancing around the room, grabbing a grade book and a pencil before his eyes landed on the sixteen-year-old girl. "Ms. Richmond, will you please read the objective aloud to the class?"

Amy tilted her head up just a bit, allowing her arm to retreat from cheek. "Students will be able to apply their knowledge of Thermodynamics in this experiment in order to prepare for the upcoming exam."

"Very good," Mr. Chester replied, adding participation points onto her grade, "We will have a lab today you guys to see how much you know on thermodynamics and to see if you guys were paying attention. But, first we have to do the drill. Niko, do problem number one on the board. Erin, number two. Kelsey, number three. Nigel, number four."

Amy watched as her neighbor grunted before pushing his chair back and rising to his feet. Picking up the drill paper in his left hand while placing his phone in his pants pocket in another, he stalked towards the board passing the rows three rows in front of him.

Three minutes passed when Erin-who had to double-check his problem when he spotted a mistake- sat down, Mr. Chester looked back up at the board looking at the problems. He let out a sound in contemplation before looking at the class of twenty-two teenagers. "Numbers one and two are correct. Kelsey, you forgot to divide and Nigel…your answer is correct, but you didn't show the work for it. Can the both of you please return to the board and finish?"

Yet again, after about a minute and a half had passed, the two finally were able to return to their seats, with there re-advised answers on the board. Mr. Chester grabbed his pencil before scribbling back in his grade book. "Ah, excellent."

Amy looked at her partner, giving him a small smile. "You cheated off my paper didn't you?"

Nigel smirked. "Everyone knows I never do my own work."

* * *

Amy stumbled on a rock before regaining her balance.

"I saw that."

Turning her head, she spotted a raven-haired girl with purple contacts who stood a shoulder taller than her. She let out a small chuckle as the newcomer caught up to the short chestnut blue-streaked haired girl. "What's up Mannie?"

The aforementioned girl, who was still chuckling, looked up. "Nothin' much. Cept' Mr. Graff had kicked Tony out of his class for getting caught with his cell phone on in Precalc. Plus a referral for talking back. "

Amy sucked her teeth a little. "_Tch!_ Tony always gets in trouble in every class. I don't think he's ever actually done his work either. Madame Harpner almost had him suspended for hassling Riva in French class like, several days ago."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Guess what happened over there?" Mannie asked, pointing towards the small playground beside the sidewalk they were on. There was a "DO NOT CROSS" line surrounding the border of the gates. Amy tilted her head a bit. "What happened?"

"The kids that used to play there went missing!"

"What!?"

"They were all Madame Harpner's neighbors' kids too. She told us in our class, but not yours?"

Amy shook her head. "She told us that something happened around her neighborhood, but didn't tell us everything. How many kids went missing?"

"Eleven. One of them is Darrell."

Amy's head snapped up and to the taller friend, a look of incredulousness placed upon her face. "Darrell!? As in, the 9-year-old, pain-in-the-anus Darrell!? The one who pissed off that old lady down the street!?"

Mannie laughed. "Yeah, that Darrell. Oh my gosh Amy, you don't like him at _all _do you?"

Amy snorted. "That little monkey keeps on insulting me whenever the bus passes by. I hate little kids these days. They are just so bratty and think they own the place. He loves to just piss me off. So anyway, you were saying…?"

"Right, so anyway, the kids at the playground all went missing on Friday evening around five o'clock and they don't have any proof who took them. Some dude said he saw a kid running, but he didn't know if he was one of them around the area. I saw it on the news Saturday morning. They said they found a dart or tranquilizer like thing, but there were no DNA traces on it."

"Oh wow. Mannie, we're gonna have to start taking the long way home. That sounds like scary stuff to me." Amy said while shaking her head as the two picked up the pace on the concrete.

"I know right. I asked mom if she could pick me up from school today, just in case, but she said she wouldn't be able to leave work on time, so I have to walk with someone or ride with Montez or Chelsea. If the kidnappers do show up, I won't _even _look back. I'll drop my stuff, abandon you and make a run for it!"

Amy laughed. "Oh wow, abandon me?"

Mannie chuckled. "Yep! I'd be like 'See ya' later Amy, I'm gonna miss you!' and _go_. Psych, Amy. I'm just kiddin'. I'd never do that to you."

"Naw, I'd probably do that. 'So long buddy!' and dip into the bush right there." Amy said, pointing to the small evergreen bush which was next to a mailbox. "Not really…"

"Anyways, no one's seen them or saw any traces of them whatsoever. Barbara said she had passed by the area like several minutes before when she was going to work, but didn't see anything suspicious. And the news also said like a bunch a kids and people on the street went missing as well. Some homeless dude that lives on Bridgebrook Avenue also went missing too."

Amy stopped walking as she stood in front of the green mailbox labeled "RICHMOND" in bright yellow letters on the side. "Mannie, you'll have to call me when I get off of work at nine. I gotta tell Andrew he won't be able to go to the park today until they find out what is going on. See ya' Mannie!"

The raven haired girl adjusted her glasses before waving back, a smile on her face. "See ya' Amy!"

And with that, Amy opened the compartment of her mailbox and withdrew the stack of letters and magazines before sauntering inside the house.

* * *

"What the…?"

Amy dropped her book bag as her mom walked over to the adolescent. "Hello Amy."

"Uh…hi mom…" the girl greeted, allowing the taller woman to place a kiss on her bang-covered forehead. "Could you do me a favor and throw this out please?"

The parent placed the handle of the incinerated tea kettle in her daughter's hands. The girl looked down and looked back up, noticing the kitchen still had smoke around. "Mommy, how'd you burn _another _tea kettle. I mean, all you have to do is wait…"

The mother gave a small plop on the head of the short haired girl, cutting her mid-sentence. "Now don't make me have to tell your little brother that I was sent to jail because I attempted first degree murder now."

Amy chuckled. Her mother always had a good sense of humor, as did she. Her mother worked at home, on the computer of her downstairs office. Amy had no idea on what she did since she had the house to herself, but knew that she was quite the procrastinator. And with a television, a Cadillac, and a stereo within range; she had nothing to keep her on track.

Amy shook her head, a smile plastered on her face. "Since I'll be on my way to work in a few minutes, I'll stop by the store and get another one."

Her mother's eyes widened and she let out a joyful gasp. "Oh Amy, Thank you! I'll pay you back when I get my paycheck."

"No, that's okay mom. Besides, I burned the last one a few weeks ago."

* * *

Well, how was chapter one so far? It may start out slow, but I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible. Keep in mind what is happening in this chapter. It'll fill you in a bit on what's taking place. You may have an idea on what is going on, but just you wait. Anyway, thank you lnzy1 for your granted permission. I'll try my best not to overdo anything.

Anyway, I have church today. See ya'll!!! :D


	2. Chapter 2

Wee! Iza' got meself sum reviews! (Cookies if you understood that. xD)

In any case, I'm pretty glad the first chapter went off pretty well. I noticed I made some mistakes, here and there, but I'll be able to replace them whenever I can. (Don't ya' just hate typos? xO )

In any case, thank you for the **BizzaroVer**: Thank you for the compliment and healthy criticism. Um, the homeless guy kind of sticks around there. You know, like an alley cat. So, yeah, he's been hanging around the town for quite some time and such, so…people know him. Hope I was able to make some clarifications there. ^_^

Anyways, chapter 2!

* * *

_**April 11th, 2007 **_

_Wow. Spring Break just ended yesterday and three kids from the sophomore class just disappeared. Brenda was one of them. I never did get a chance to know her, so I'm not really as upset as her groupies and such. Still, she was in our band class, and without the only French horn player, it is gonna be kind of different. Perry said that she was last seen at McDonalds. Perry would know since he works the night shifts on the weekends. Sounds like that would suck. And she was such a funny girl too… _

_

* * *

_

The cadence immediately ended the moment the young twenty-eight-year old music instructor lowered her hands to her side. All instruments withdrew to the laps of the instrumentalists. Those of the percussion section pulled their handheld music tool to one hand as the woman closed the overly filled music book.

"Okay, we'll work on that next class. Have a good day you guys. And hope that Brenda shows up soon."

And with that, every student rose to their feet and walked down from the raised platform centered in the room. When Amy neared her "work study" seat, she began to take apart the three parts of her clarinet. An African-American boy approached from behind, tugging at the silver mouthpiece that was seemingly jammed in the bronze, dented trumpet. When he was able to pull it out, he placed it inside the black case, along with his horn before turning to face the below-average sized girl. "Hey Amy, did you do the math homework for Mr. Hughes?"

Amy shook her head as she unscrewed the last part of her clarinet, pulling the reed out of her mouthpiece before dropping it into the blue trashcan next to her. "Dominic, why don't you ever do your homework?"

"The same reason you do," the boy replied, "Cuz' of work and laziness. Besides, I know for a fact you _just _did your homework in the cafeteria. And you got the answers from Jasmine. She told me last period in Mr. Rucks class. But she had gotten the answers from Maurice."

"Everybody's plagiarizing these days," Amy snickered, "I bet there is not one person that hasn't cheated or copied off of somebody's papers in this school."

"I know Brenda probably didn't. I can't believe she went missing. And those other two sophomores. Where are they all going?" Dominic asked, although he was pretty sure the girl wouldn't have a clue whatsoever. Still, she answered.

"I'm thinking they were kidnapped by some pedophiles. Since a few weeks ago, those kids nearby went missing too. Perry said he saw Brenda at McDonalds the night she went missing. I don't know about the other two sophomores though. Mannie said the other two were hanging out together though. But I don't know where or what they were doing. But I think Brenda will show up. Or, I hope she will."

Dominic reached into his faded jean pockets, hand shuffling around a bit before pulling out a small yellow and red pack labeled **Bubblelicious.** "Gum?"

Amy smiled a bit, taking an aluminum strip form the small white wrappings within the pack. "Thanks, I'll need it for History."

* * *

"_Students and staff, May I have your attention please?" _

The elderly man stopped explaining the accomplishments of Jane Addams as he, as well as the class looked towards the beige corner of the room in which an intercom speaker hung about seven feet in the air. Mannie leaned towards her best friend, who was chewing gum as quietly as she could, as to not draw attention of the teacher and be forced to spit it out and lose a few points off her grade. "Watch. It is gonna be about those sophomores that went missing last week."

"_For those of you who don't know, a few of our students had gone missing on April 7__th__, during the spring break. Investigators have been sent here to look for clues as to the whereabouts of those children. They will be here for about an hour or two during class periods. We advise all of you to remain in class until we give word that you may go. If you have any information regarding the disappearances of John McRoss, Brenda Smith and Daniel Stevenson, please immediately report to the office to inform the FBI officers so that they may be further aided in the search for these victims. That is all." _

With an audible click, the ringing sound along with the male voice disappeared and the students began to chat amongst themselves, somewhat aware that class was still in session.

"I bet Perry went to the office, since he saw Brenda." Mannie told the small gathering group as she turned around in her chair to face the trio. Amy turned towards her best friend, as well as the middle-eastern immigrant who sat beside her. "And we won't be able to go to McDonalds until they get all the evidence they need."

The tanned foreign student shook her head a bit. "Perry will probably wait until the end of the day before he goes to the office."

"But Mr. Johnson said they'll be here for only two hours. He'll probably g-"

"_Ahem!" _

The constant chattering soon came to an abrupt stop as everyone faced forward at the old man, a placid frown plastered upon his wrinkled face as he twiddled the black marker between his index finger and thumb. "I know you guys want to talk about the missing sophomores…," he started, his Boston-accent clearly detectable within his voice, "…but you're going off course. You'll all be able to discuss about it at the end of class. Remember what they said: students are to remain in class until we receive word to let you guys out. So, I'm guessing US History is going to be longer. But if we go over everything we need to learn today, I'll allow you to talk for the remainder of this period." And with that, he swiftly turned around, writing an answer key onto the board.

"Oh, and Miss Richmond?"

Amy, startled, quickly hid the gum in her left cheek before looking at the back of the man's grey-whiskered-haired head. "Yes?"

"Spit out that gum."

* * *

Class was extended only about fifteen minutes longer, as the officers had checked the class about three doors down the hallway from room 202, the United States History class. Room 208 was the room which taught Chemistry for the underclassman of the tenth grade. Mr. Taurus was able to give all the information he needed for the day's lesson it seemed, as he allowed the juniors to talk for the remainder of class as he sat down and graded the multiple-choice class work and the Women's Suffrage essays which was the homework for the class prior. Amy stood at the doorway, carrying the thick three-ring-binder in one hand while holding her brown leather purse in the other. Mannie and Afsana stood to her left, holding their books to side.

"I still have to do my homework for English." Mannie confessed, shifting her weight from side to side. Afsana let out a small dry laugh. "Mannie, you should've done that at home. You have to use the computer to find half the answers."

Mannie's eyes, with its artificial purple color, widened. "Are you _serious?_"

Afsana smiled. "Yeah! You had to go to this website and take an online quiz to get the answers and results."

"Aw crap…" Mannie groaned, the tone of her voice betraying the smile upon her face.

Amy and Afsana laughed, watching as their friend immediately stepped towards a chair-less desk and leaned forward before roughly dropping the textbook she had been holding and withdrew a pencil from the pocket of her cerulean _American Eagle_ hoodie. "Guess I'm gonna have to make up answers."

"She's going to check them you know." Amy warned, trying to hide the small grin as her friend abruptly stopped hastily scribbling onto the assignment.

Mannie remained frozen before she opened her mouth again. "…Screw me…"

Amy guffawed at the girl's reaction. Afsana shook her head. "Mannie, Mannie, Mannie…"

* * *

"Anyway, you were saying something about Perry not tellin' anyone until later on." Amy reminded as the two treaded towards their last period classes. The duo's final period was located down the stairs, near the very back of the school building. Mannie had class in the second wing of the school, very close to the entrance. And, chances were, she would wait a few minutes so the trio could walk home together. Afsana, turned her head toward the shorter girl.

"Oh yeah! I don't think Perry went to tell the officers yet. He has a thing against the assistant principal what's-her-name since she had confiscated his iPod when he was on the bus. Dominic said he has to have his parents know about it and pick it up or he won't be able to see it until the end of the school year."

"What? How'd he lose his iPod if he was on the bus? Is there some rule that says you can't hear it on the bus?"

"Yeah, it's new."

"So you get punished even when you're _off _school grounds? That makes absolutely no sense."

"I know! But anyway, back on subject; I don't think he'll tell just yet because he would be in danger of getting caught next. Or that's what I think."

"No offense Afsana, but that doesn't make any sense to me."

"I know. Most of the things I say don't make sense since I'm just crazy like that, you know?"

Silence

"…I hope Brenda will be okay." Amy said out of the blue, watching as Afsana stopped at the large blue door of the class. Afsana grabbed the doorknob and opened the entrance to the final period of the day.

"I don't know her, but I hope she and the rest will okay too. You know, with all these people gone missing. It is getting kinda scary."

* * *

And, I am finished! First of all, I just want to ask for your forgiveness for the sucky ending. I think that is my weak point. Also, I want to tell you I'm sorry everything starts off so slow. Trust me; it is going to get MUCH more interesting in the later chapters. I will make time intervals ranging from certain months to certain months and something WILL happen.

Friendly criticism and reviews will be highly appreciated! 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3, up and ready! ^_^ (since I'm sick and all. I HATE sore throats!)

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_**May 24**__**th, **__**2007 **_

_All the seniors have just left yesterday. I'm going to miss Nigel. As dumb as he acted, he was always funny and sweet. If only he did not have to keep looking over everyone's papers, I would have probably asked him out. But he said he had a girlfriend already when he was talking with the school skank, Tiffany. I CAN'T stand her. Especially after that rumor she said about me going out with Daniel. We never talked to each other ever again after that. Wait…I have this written in one of my other journal entries, don't I? _

_

* * *

_

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Um," the man hesitated, "I would like to know where I can find the bikes section please."

Amy turned her head away from the middle-aged customer, lifting her arm to point out in the Eastern direction. "Over there, in aisle fourteen, where the woman is pushing a stroller over there."

Indeed, the man twisted his head and spotted a woman, looking no older than thirty, pushing a blue empty stroller with a yellow price tag dangling off the edge of the rubber handles. The man nodded, muttering a quick "thank you" before walking down the narrow path surrounded with large shelves carrying what seem to be sports supplies ranging from helmets and safety pads to skateboards, scooters, skates and other means of simple travel. The man quickly left her site and she turned around, stacking the large amount of over-the-counter medicine onto shelves labeled with yellow and blue price tags. It wasn't until thirty-five minutes later she would be able to depart for the mall with Mannie to buy some food and, if both seemed to have a healthy budget, the two would go shopping for an outfit or two. After all, swimsuit prices were bound to go up since summer vacation was around the corner. And summer clothes would, of course, be the most comfortable during this time of year.

In any case, she still had work to finish in the warehouse, which seemed to have a little too cool air conditioning for her comfort, but a pretty awesome boss who she actually came to adore since she transitioned from Richmond, Virginia to Key West, Florida. She couldn't help but laugh when she arrived here in a pair of jeans and a jacket in November. Apparently, the common knowledge of southern states being generally warmer than those of the northern ones didn't seem to have reached her ears. However, it was good thinking on her part since the building was like an iceberg to the employees and customers alike. So it wasn't uncommon for her to be the only one wearing a brown leather jacket each day, trying to cope with the low temperatures in her office and when examining her subordinates work.

Either way, the blonde woman came to the teenager after she had stepped off the stool to put the other medicine on the shelves which were thankfully closer to the ground. "How are you holding up sweetie?"

Amy smiled warmly at her supervisor. "I'm doin' pretty good ma'am. School is almost out and my family plans on going to New York in late June. Its been a while since I've been there; Dad told me I went when I was only two years old but we only stayed there to attend my great-grandmother's funeral, so I don't remember anything."

The employer smiled. "You'll love it there. I've been there several times before I moved here. Gas prices started to get higher, so I guess I'll start saving for a plane or something. You'll love the malls up there the most hon'. But its pretty crowded, especially this time of year. And cooler. I suggest you bring a small hoodie or somethin' with ya'."

"Ms. Fox," Amy started, putting the last of Mucus relief medicine onto the last shelf before standing upright to her full 5"3 height, noticeably shorter than the older woman who towered over her by at least a head, "Do you think I can have off on the third week of June?"

"Well, you just told me about your vacation didn't you?" The woman asked, her white-toothed grin spreading across her face. "Of course you can. Just call when you're back, alright?"

"Thanks Ms. Fox, I owe you one."

"No you don't sweetie!" The woman laughed. "It's hard to find young workers like you who don't take off a whole month or two before coming back."

Amy smiled waved before heading towards the employees changing rooms. "Have a good day Ms. Fox!"

"Take care hon'!"

* * *

Amy spotted Mannie in front of the large mall, sitting down on a brown bench. She was dressed in a green and white striped polo-shirt with a pair of tight navy blue shorts a few inches above her knees. Her white Nikes swung back and forth, scraping the concrete ground as her legs withdrew under the wooden bench and out. Her glasses seemed to hide her eyes as the sun bore onto her, reflecting light off the rims and her hair which was drawn into a messy ponytail, a few strands hanging out in front of her ears.

The girl's ears perked up when she heard her childhood friend call out to her and turned towards the blue-streaked hair teenager.

"Amy!" Mannie yelled as she stood up from the bench and waved at the girl to come over.

Amy looked around the parking lot, to confirm that no cars were backing out or coming by before jogging across the somewhat smooth dark asphalt. It didn't take long before she reached to the taller girl who gave a small grin. "How are you?"

"I'm good. My boss gave me the week to New York off, so I can go with my family. If she hadn't, I would end up staying with my grandmother and-as much as I love her- I'd be bored out of my mind."

"My grandmother goes to Las Vegas almost every year during the summer," Mannie somewhat taunted, "Too bad I'm not old enough to go with her."

"My mother said I shouldn't even _think _about gambling. She told me should I ever get accepted to Las Vegas University and go gambling, she'll burn down every casino within twenty miles from it."

"Your mom's always funny. I wish my mom had a sense of humor like that. She actually believed me on April Fools when I told her I was smoking marijuana after school with you."

"With _me?_" Amy questioned, eyes growing larger with realization. "You knew if my dad heard that, I'd never be able to go out for a year!"

"Yeah, it took me a few minutes to calm her down and tell her I was just joking. She told me not to make jokes like that since her older brother had smoked illegal drugs when she was a teenager and was still serving a sentence in jail."

"You told me about that a few months ago."

"Yeah, it was in January when we had to do that project for Mrs. Lutcher."

"Wait…why are we staying out here, talking outside with no food?"

"That was what I was wonderin' myself. Let's stop by the food court real quick before we go to Old Navy…"

* * *

"_I swear! I saw it happen! They're coming! They're coming to get us!" _

The two young women turned their heads towards the entrance of the mall. Two security guards were restraining a middle aged man, dressed in an orange short-sleeved shirt with a thin green vest. An officer monitored the man as he was being pushed towards the automatic doors, of course, with the shaggy man putting up quite the fight.

"I'm telling you! I _saw _it happen! At night! _Believe me! They're coming!" _

The man's voice began to fade as he was soon outside, a security car parked in front of the lobby entrance, awaiting for the man's presence as well as that of the authorities.

"Giant robots! Giant _friggin_' robots!! They're coming! They took the man! They're taking _everyone_!"

Mannie scooped up her ketchup-layered hot dog before drawing an inch or two into her mouth before biting down. Amy, however was transfixed onto the man who was successfully pushed into the back of the vehicle, hands cuffed as the door soon closed behind him. An elderly policeman entered the driver's side as his not-so-old partner sat on the passenger's seat. The man's screams proclamations were still heard as the van drove off. Amy continued to stare at the spot until Mannie's voice interrupted her from her prolonged attention.

"I saw it coming."

Turning her head, Amy looked at her friend incredulously as she casually munched on her french fries. "Huh?"

"When I was waiting outside, that guy was hollerin' about giant robots takin' over the world."

"_What?" _

"That's what I said. He said he saw the homeless dude get abducted. That he was walking down the street from his friend's house when he saw the guy faint before and some truck turn into a robot. He said he hid on the side of a building with all this happening."

"That happened over a month ago! _Now _he decides to let everyone know?"

"Nobody believes him though. I kinda think he's lost it."

"_Kinda?" _

Mannie took a fry from her tray before looking back up to her friend. "I _really _think he's lost it. He grabbed a child and kept on yelling in his face: 'They're going to get you! They're going to get you!' The kid's mom took the child away from him and slapped him. I would have thought it would be hilarious until he ran inside. Kinda got scared to go into the mall until you came."

"And you didn't tell me this happened _because…?" _

"Was about to tell you when all of the sudden the dude started yelling again."

* * *

_**March 13**__**th**__** 2008 **_

…_how we're all fools when the man warned us. We could've done something when we had the chance. I can see him getting the last laugh. How I wished I could have believed him. How we all should have believed him. Can't believe how stupid we all were when we had all this proof of the all that went missing and we __still __didn't believe him. We didn't believe __them__... _

_

* * *

_

In order to understand the fragmant of the journal at the last part, you'll have to have to wait til' the later chapters. I know its kinda confusing for some of ya' at the end. And sorry nothing is happenin' yet. Trust me. Stuff is going to go down in the later chaps.

Note: Notice the censorship in my writing. Just wanna ya'll to point that out.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it took me so long, school projects, AP mid-terms, life, etc. Chapter 4, up and ready! ^_^

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_**July 4, 2007: Independence Day **_

_It's a good thing we're in Delaware now. Hurricane season isn't usually the best. Especially after what happened with Katrina. Mannie also says it's raining down there. Horrible time to have a barbecue. Oh well. Auntie Faith didn't come with us up here, saying Uncle Victor is sick again. And the twins rode with us. Muriel already left her toy at the airport, Marilyn lost her slurpee. Heh, I'm kinda glad they did. That little Pikachu sound was getting on my last friggin' nerves… _

_

* * *

_

Amy took a large bite of her hamburger as she watched a large group of her family members encircling the long row of chairs, wary that the music was could and will stop at any time and that they will have to act quickly before an unlucky one had to leave the game. She wanted to play the next game, when she was done with her hamburger and strawberry soda. Putting a hamburger down, she sipped some of her drink, tapping her foot to the background music that would soon come to an end.

_And I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole  
life  
We are drinking beer at noon on Tuesday  
In a bar that faces a giant car wash  
The good people of the world are washing their cars  
On their lunch break, hosing and scrubbing  
As best they can in skirts in suits _

_They drive their shiny Datsuns and Buicks  
Back to the phone company, the record store too  
Well, they're nothing like Billy an-_

The song came to an immediate pause, as the group desperately flurried towards the open seats. I mere seconds, all but one of the seats were occupied with adults and children alike, all immune to being selected out of the game. Two adults, one a burly middle-aged man dressed in a burgundy polo and khakis who she was not familiar with and a teenage girl, dressed in a jean mini and a wool yellow turtleneck who was a distant cousin had both raced to that empty seat which sat in-between two teenage boys. Unfortunately for that teenage girl, sandals were not the best footwear to run in.

"And Melissa is _out!_" her mother yelled, pointing to the young teen, who laughed as she sat down on a wooden bench, a few feet away from the silver platters of hot dogs and steak. She pulled out a pink cell phone from her side pocket, and began chatting away immediately as everyone who still remained in the game stood up.

_-d me, cause…_

_All I wanna do is have some fun  
I got a feeling I'm not the only one…_

Amy's attention was suddenly diverted as a tan-skinned girl sat right next to her.

The girl was pretty short, five foot one at the most. She had short two-toned hair, both side bangs were platinum blonde while the rest of her hair was black. She had a pair of round glasses, one rim a little more scuffed than the other. She wore a pair of long faded jeans and a small orange tank top which had "G4" in big broad yellow letters. Amy was unable to tell if she was her age or not, but she knew she guessed she was in her late teens despite her short stature, judging from the many piercings around her ears.

"Hey." She said suddenly, giving the girl a friendly smile.

"Hey, how're you?" Amy replied back, smiling as she did so.

"Bored out of my head," The girl replied, throwing her head back a little, as she kicked up her feet and scuffed the surface of her shoes on the surface of the ground, "There is nothing to do here."

"There's plenty to do here. Have you eaten yet?" Amy asked, a little uncomfortable but a little thrilled that she was meeting someone new. This girl did seem like the bold type, one that could bring up the most taboo of topics without knowing it. But she didn't have enough experience with her to judge just yet.

"No, my family just got here. But we stopped at Burger King not too long ago, so I'm not that hungry," The girl extended a hand towards the high-schooler, "By the way, I'm Eve."

Amy took her hand and gave it a good shake. "I'm Amy."

"Nice to meet you Amy. What grade are you in?"

"I'll be a senior when school starts back up again. Although, I'll have half days if I do those internships."

"I miss high school. College is a _hella_ lot of work. Makes you feel nostalgic when you have twin0tower stacks of paper."

Amy tilted her head. "Huh, what are ya'?"

"A college sophomore," Eve replied, "…about to be a junior."

"How _old _are you?"

Eve picked up her feet and let her legs lie across the bench. "I'm 20, I'll be 21 in November. I know I act like a kid, don't I?"

Amy blinked. She was way off in her age calculations. "I thought you were my age, like…17 or 18 or…"

"I know, I get that a lot. But usually 18-year-olds and 20-year-olds look the same."

"You look like you like video games a lot. My cousin watches G4 all the time, but you look like a gung-ho gamer gal."

"I _am _a gung-ho gamer gal!" The older girl chuckled. "Name a game, I've played it. And I've been a fan of games ever since Mario came out."

"Ah, so you like Mario?" Amy inquired, giving her a small smirk. "I'm pretty sure Sonic can beat him."

"Heh, _please." _Eve playfully scoffed, "That mutant hedgehog wasn't even around when Mario came out."

"So? He can run at the speed of sound!" Amy pointed out, proud of her knowledge of video games. She hadn't played a videogame in years, but knowledge doesn't disappear that quickly. And she did recall Sonic being her favorite videogame when she was still a game-addict. Abruptly changing the subject, she leaned forward and asked the girl, "So, what state are you from?"

"Maryland, it's not too far from here."

"Oh, I'm from Florida."

"You came all this way for just one day?" The girl asked with a slightly raised eye lid.

"No, we were going to stay here for a week. Our trip to New York was canceled."

"What happened?"

"You…didn't hear about it?"

There was a pregnant pause among the two until the elder one's eyes opened in realization. "Oh! You mean the plane going missing?"

"Yeah. But they found it, but there was, like, a huge shortage of passengers. They were about a hundred on the plane, half of them had disappeared." Amy answered, reaching out to grab her strawberry soda and taking a sip from it before placing it back on the wooden table. Eve had pushed her legs out from under the table with one propped on the bench parallel from the one she sat on.

"They said _none _of the passengers were found, if I remember correctly."

"Really? That report broadcasted last month at our airport. Mom said because of that, we'll have to go next year. No flights were held."

"Bummer."

"By the way, do you wanna play Musical Chairs? It looks like they're about to have another game."

"Sure. Right after I beat this level."

Amy tilted her head. "Level?"

Eve reached into her pant pocket and pulled out a black portable game console. "On my PSP."

* * *

It was 1:58 AM. Amy and Eve, who she found out was her second cousin, were to sleep in the rather spacious living room, along with the majority of the females of the house. However, both were still awake and in the guest room, watching shows on the plasma screen television of their Uncle's very large home. It was a mini mansion, with many rooms, even consisting of a game room for little children and a room aligned with bookshelves, which would have made it look like a grand study room. Amy had stayed there once, but that was when she was but knee-high. Too long ago to remember the characteristics.

Eve had excused herself to the bathroom while Amy watched Comedy Central, which was sporting many commercials at the moment. Amy pulled the end of her blue pajama shirt over her knees. It was pretty cold. The air conditioning of the house was set a little lower than that at her home. She was getting a bit sleepy. It wasn't that it was very early in the morning, she always did stay up early during the weekends. With only commercials playing and her relative and friend in the bathroom, there wasn't much to do.

Letting out quite an audible yawn, she felt her eyes slowly closing…

That was until she heard Eve's hurried footsteps.

Reopening her eyes, she glanced up at the girl. "Eve, I'm going to bed. It's really…"

Before she could finish, she took note of Eve's expression. Her eyes were wide, as if almost panicked. Her posture was sloppy at best as she quietly took deep breaths.

Alerted, Amy stood up next to the girl. "What's wrong?"

"Follow me." The college student ushered, grabbing the girls hand before she took quick steps into the hallway. Amy noticed that she had left the lights on in the bathroom as they passed it. The passed the living room which held the sleeping females who had stayed over and the basement door, which had housed the men. Passing the long set of stairs, she noticed Eve slow down as they entered the dark foyer of the room, which was only lit by the moon light which entered the one-story window above the extravagant doors.

Before Amy could ask the girl to let go, she felt the hand that held her wrist loosen as Eve pulled up the shades of the house until it was a few inches or so above the shutters. "Look at that car over there."

"What…?"

"_That _car, beside that house over there." Eve pointed, pointing at a two-story house which sat at the corner of a street.

Amy followed Eve's fingers, her eyes lying onto a large black and yellow striped car. It still had its lights on, but no one was in the driver's seat. Amy looked confused. "What are you getting at?"

"Look in the back seat."

Amy's eyes did go towards the back seat, in which her view wasn't too obscured thanks to the outside lamp posts. Her eyes widened a bit.

There, she saw a girl with dirty blonde hair lying in the back seat. She looked to be very young, at least in her preteens, 12 at the most. She appeared to be sleeping. But it was far too dark to be the only one in the car. Where were her parents? However, Amy still wasn't too alerted. She only looked at Eve, whose attention still drawn onto the vehicle. "I see the girl, but I don't understand why you're panicked."

"When I got out of the bathroom, I heard the girl scream."

Amy suddenly began to understand what Eve was getting at. Eve continued.

"I went to the window and I saw that car following her. She…"

"Wait, why was she outside? It's almost 2 o'clock in the morning!"

"I don't know," Eve answered, "But, anyway, she was running down the sidewalk on this side of the road and suddenly, she fell down. That's when the car pulled up."

"Wait, what did you do?"

"I went to get you! We have to call the police before she g-"

Eve didn't finish when she saw another car suddenly drive up, screeching against the asphalt as it pulled to a stop, counter-clockwise from the other car. The two girls stared at the skid marks left behind. She heard Eve mutter a curse as their attention were soon drawn onto the newcomer. It was a navy blue car with a drift on the back. Unlike the other, there were no lights on. It stayed in the middle of the street, adjacent from the black and yellow car.

Then, the oddest of sounds entered her ears.

She noticed that the headlights of both cars continuously flickering and blinking as, what sounded like some type of…language was shared between the cars. She didn't even think the sounds of a computer could mimic whatever those sounds were. It was…unnerving. But she focused more on the fact that both cars seemed to be doing so. Was the driver of the blue car _doing _something? It was…strange. Strange being quite an understatement. The navy blue car turned around. And she let out a gasp.

While the blue car did sport a passenger, a raven-haired man that looked to be sleeping as well in the passenger seat, there was _no one _in the driver's seat.

_Wait a minute... _

_No driver... _

_The car...cars... _

_Were they...are they...driving...themselves?_

* * *

This chapter sucked. I know. T-T

If you have absolutely no life, the uncompleted song is All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow. If you don't know it, you really need to get with it! xD

Oh well, please read, review, criticize, whatever.


	5. Chapter 5

^_^' Not really too much to say. School, homework, looking for a job, etc. Waiting for the next TFA season to roll on out. Anyway…

--------------------------------------

_**July 5**__**th**__**, 2007 **_

_Last night was strange. Those two people had nothing in common and were taken away by cars. I didn't see anyone driving those cars, but chances are I was just too far to see them, or it was too dark. For the both of us. The cops across the street are still investigating. At least I know what I saw now. Eve was the one who told them what she saw first. They told her they'll hold whatever she told them in high regard and went to me. Kinda feels weird, like I'm a witness to a crime scene. But maybe…I am. Or…was. _

_

* * *

_

"Aunt Tessa, Muriel hit me!"

"She hit me first!"

"That's because she called me a dummy!"

"I didn't call her a dummy!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"_Hush!"_

The two small children looked to the front seat of the car to see the impatient glare of the driver, both hands off the wheel and gripping the back seat. "I'm driving and the two of you are distracting me. Get along now unless you don't want to go to the pool tomorrow. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am…" came Marilyn's reply, giving an unfriendly stare at her twin, looking out the window. The younger twin followed in suit, looking out the opposite pane.

Looking forward, the woman watched just in time for the light to turn green before rolling forward. Amy took out her headphones as the car came up to an Essex gas station. Her mother parked at a side lot next to the small somewhat crowded store just as she nudged the hold button on the top of her iPod.

"All the pumps are being used; so while we wait for an open spot, let's get something to eat from here. Who's hungry?" Tessa asked, getting the attention of her sister's daughters.

"I am! Can I have a hotdog?" The older twin asked, getting out of the, smoothing out her white shorts and pink tank top. "I want relish and mustard."

"I don't wanna go to that place. Can we go to the Burger King with the jungle gym?" The younger sister asked, putting back on her flip-flop sandals after unhinging her seatbelt.

"Muriel," Amy answered, watching as her cousin stared at her, "We passed that place several miles ago. We're close to Ocean City now."

Muriel expression brightened, completely overlooking the fact that she would not be able to play inside the chamber of colorful balls inside of the fast-food restaurant she had so dearly wanted to stop by. "How close are we?"

"Only an hour. And hour and a half tops." The woman answered, withdrawing the key before stepping out of the car herself. "Amy, do you want something?"

"Could you get me a bag of corn chips…and grape soda?"

"Sure."

With that, the woman closed her car door and headed inside of the small store, the two children accompanying her.

It had been two weeks since they departed from Delaware. It became quite hectic after that night. Recalling the event from time to time, she couldn't help but excogitate what she had seen or rather, what she hadn't seen. Was it truly a kidnapping? Two of them? But there were cars with no driver. Or perhaps, there were drivers, but maybe the limited amount of light available prevented her from seeing them. But Eve was with her, having not been able to see them either. And by those reports, she knew those were the two she people she saw. But…if she was able to see the missing persons, why not the drivers of both vehicles? Her mind had been boggling over that during the few weeks passed, but she refused to continue into it further until she had gained a better understanding, in which would require her to speculate the scene again.

Knees pressed on the underside of the dashboard, she leaned her chair back, now that there was much more space which didn't inhabit one of the twins who habitually switched places in the back of the car. Turning back on her iPod, she tilted her head towards the window, listening to a pop song her little brother had added on without her consent. Had he not been at sleepaway camp, he would have had a bruised area on his scalp where she would have given him an unpleasant "Noogie from Hades" which he had called it.

A sudden yelp and shriek made her jump a bit in her seat, and she jerked her head outside the window.

A small gathering of individuals began to crowd on the corner of the sidewalk as they all looked into the middle of the street, a few audible gasps and exclamations of shock drowning out the sound of her music which she turned off after opening the car door. She made her way towards the growing cluster of people. Going to the side of the growing crowd, she looked into the street and saw a rather unpleasant site.

A small brown dog lay crumpled on the sliver asphalt, its head extremely inverted from a sudden passing weight. A small but steadily growing pool of blood underneath the small lifeless mammal seeped into small cracks in the street, as well as covered one of the yellow lane lines. She could have sworn she saw the animal twitch, but the likelihood was tat it was her imagination, or to be more accurate, her horror.

A young child suddenly ran into the street, no bothering to look to see if any oncoming cats were coming. "_Duke!" _

The little boy, looking no more than six years old, sloppily bent down to his knees and shook the dog's form, sobbing loudly as a gruff-looking man, whom she presumed was his father, took his arm and gently but firmly pulled the boy up. Due to the very high-pitch of the boy's cries, she was only able to make out very few of the boy's words such as _"Duke! Wake up!" and "He ran over Duke!" _

A woman appeared beside the man, salient dread creeping upon her facial expressions as she wrapped her arms around the small boy as he cried onto her chest.

Amy was a bit startled when her mother suddenly appeared next to her, holding both of her nieces' hands as she looked on at the dead animal.

"Amy, what happened?" Muriel asked, "Whose doggie is that?"

"I think it was _theirs_ Muri." Amy answered, pointing towards what she assumed was the family, noticing that the woman had too went into tears.

Marilyn had shifted her grip on her aunt's arm, wrapping her arms around her waist as she looked on, eyes glistening as if she was soon to shed her own tears. "Aunt Tessa, i-is the d-d-doggie…is the doggie gonna be okay? Its…the doggie is gonna be okay right?" she asked, false naivety trying to coat the blatant truth.

"I don't know Marilyn." The woman told her, "Maybe...let's get back in the car you guys. Amy, go get the bags from the top of the trunk and put

* * *

"Wake up you guys, we're here!"

Amy looked behind the chair to see the small twins slowly coming to, eyes opening slowly. Muriel groaned a bit as she reached down to take off her seat belt. Yawning, Marilyn stretched her arms as high as she could to the roof of the car, the knuckles of her left hand brushing against the top of the car door.

From the parking lot, Amy looked up at the large Marriot hotel. It was a lot larger than the ones she saw in the other states, sporting much larger artificial palm trees, as well as a larger section of gardens. It was several stories tall, seemingly able to house a school. She never had seen a resort hotel like this before, but maybe because she rarely had been to any. Her mother had told her there was a beach in the back of it, but they would have to wait until the next day to go, since it was pretty late and they all had to settle in first.

The teen noticed that her mom had opened the trunk, withdrawing some of the suitcases. She opened the door and went behind the car, assisting her mother with the luggage which was rather heavy for a five-day trip.

"Thanks Amy. Can you make sure the two are awake while I go check in? I'll be back with a luggage cart."

Amy nodded as her mother walked across the parking lot with her purse in hand. Turning towards the car doors, she saw Marilyn step out first, looking in awe at the large building. "Is that where we're gonna stay?"

"Yep. We're going to be staying her for a week."

Amy hadn't noticed Muriel walk up behind her, catching the older girl off guard as she excitably asked, "Are we going to go swimming!?"

"Um…not today." Amy asked, watching both of the little girls faces let out a small whine, "We have to put everything away first. But we'll be able to go the tomorrow! We'll go to the beach in the back, then the pool…and maybe mom will take us to the theme park nearby."

"Ooh! Can we go there now!?" Marilyn asked, jumping up and down, "Please! Please! _Puh-lease!?" _

Amy chuckled a bit. "Its' a little late, don't you think? Its past six o'clock. We'd only be able to get on only a couple of rides, and besides, we have to settle in first."

"Where is Aunt Tessa?" Muriel asked, looking in the vacant driver's seat of the car.

Amy turned to point at the entrance of the hotel, spotting her mother returning with a large luggage cart. "She's coming back. She had gone to get us a room."

Without looking both ways, the two girls darted towards the woman, giving her rather rough hugs as they began to plead, as Amy was able to tell from a distance, bout going to the pool or going to the amusement park and that they could put the stuff away later.

* * *

Swiping the card into the slot, Tessa pushed down the handle and opened the door to their room. "Remember this room you guys. It is room 412. Did you hear me?"

Muriel, who was the first to enter the room, nodded her head. The first thing that seemingly caught her eyes were the two large beds with red and green floral-style comforters. Kicking off her sandals, she ran and flopped belly-first onto the bed. "I call this one!"

"Don't jump on the bed Muriel. Don't run either. There are people below you." Her aunt warned, setting the luggage down, next to a chestnut brown dresser.

Amy put down the remaining luggage next to a tall lamp. "There was a sign that said that breakfast starts at seven in the morning; we should set the alarm so we won't miss it."

"Okay. Thanks for the heads-up Amy. Marilyn! Muriel! Thank Amy. You guys will be able to eat pancakes in the morning."

Amy smiled as she heard the twins thank her in monotone unison. Before she went to close the door behind her, she noticed the large luggage cart in the middle of the floral style hallway. "Oh, I'll go take the thing back downstairs."

Her mother looked up and at towards the doorway of their room. "Oh, I had almost forgotten about that. Thanks Ames' for that. By the way, do you think you could go buy some Hershey bars from the candy machine? I'll lend you the money. But I don't have change."

"Don't worry, I have change. I wanted to get myself a butterfinger anyway."

"Thank you sweetie."

Amy closed the door behind her and grabbed onto the end of the luggage cart and walked towards the end of the hallway. She paused when she saw a nearby window and was able to look out to see the beach. There were people scattered in almost every area of the beach, which was slightly smaller than she imagines, but beautiful nonetheless. She felt a small childish giddiness began to rise up in her abdomen form the site of the pool and hot tub on a raised platform behind the beach. She had wanted to try the hot tub whenever she got the chance. The sun was still high, but was slowly beginning to set as she was able to see the different shades of orange and magenta in the sky.

Getting to the task at hand, she turned the corner to see a small group of boys, preteens she thought, all clad in swimming trunks and walking barefoot in the hallway, waiting for the elevator to rise from the depths of the lower floors. They were chatting about going to the beach and playing shark, or something along the lines of that.

After a few seconds, the elevator door finally gave way. Fortunately, It was spacious enough for her, the luggage cart and the group of kids, but it took its time for the doors to close. After descending to the main floor, she watched the kids run out and into the lobby, their feet loudly patting against the polished marble floor as they went down a wide hallway, ignoring the looks of visitors and employees alike. She stepped out of the elevator, pulling the cart out as well.

Upon entering the lobby, she saw an area where several carts leaned against a pillar. She walked towards it and lightly rolled her cart towards the pile, watching as it stopped short of another.

The vending machine was in a room not too far from the elevator. Two doors down if she remembered correctly, in an open corridor. She quickly found it, occupied with two machines; one for snacks and one for soda. Reaching into the pocket of khaki capris, she pulled out loose change from her spending in a previous store when they were in Westminster. Plucking up the pennies and putting them back into her pocket, she counted the amount of money in quarters and dimes, with only three nickels. She had 2.35 in total. She looked at the prices in the vending machine. The Hershey bars were 85 cent each. She shrugged. She had enough for the twins at least. She put the change needed and bought two.

Putting the chocolate bars in her other pocket, she left the room and waited for the elevator door to open once more.

* * *

She knocked on the door, trying to look through the small eyepiece, but struggled to remain on the tips of her toes.

"Who is it?" came a small voice from behind.

"It's me Muriel. Open the door."

She heard the door give a small click as the girl who reached just above her waist pull back the door for her to walk in. Turning around, she pulled one Hershey bar out of her pocket and handed it to the girl. "Here is your chocolate bar."

Muriel squealed, almost snatching the candy from her. "Thank You Amy!"

Amy smiled, bending down to playfully pull on the younger twin's ear. "Your welcome. Where's your sister?"

Candy still in her mouth, she mumbled pointed towards the bathroom door. "She'sh usin' da poddy."

"Amy, come here for a sec."

Amy looked up to see her mother sitting on the end of one of the beds watching television, the remote resting on the floor in front of her foot. Taking a seat beside her, she met her mother's quick gesture towards the television screen.

There, on the screen, was where the gas station they had stopped at a couple of hours ago, where she had seen the site of what seemed to be the carcass of the small canine from earlier. "Are you kidding? Was it that ad that they had to put it on television?"

Her mother shook her head. "Amy, when we were at the family reunion, you said you saw no one driving, right?"

Her heart sunk a bit. "Yeah, I did. Why?"

"They replayed the tape of the dog getting hit. They didn't see anyone driving this car either."

* * *

Sorry it took me so long. My computer was hit with a virus no too many weeks ago. I still have somewhat limited access. (D-ART is hard to access, so are other TF sites) That's school for you. Anyway, done the chap. Please review, critique, and whatever. G'night!


	6. Chapter 6

Extreme boredom can do this to a person. Without homework except compiling college essays and searching for scholarships, senior year is starting off pretty smoothly. I had to leave my job because I didn't sign up for concurrent enrollment or work study/internships like I wanted, so I'm a fulltime high school senior. T_T Oh well.

Anyway, that's not what the main idea is. Now, bare with me everyone. This time skip may seem a little out and you're going to wonder "What the heck? What just happened!?" Trust me, I have a good idea on what I'm doing, and this won't last long. Think of it as, a foreshadow.

----------

_**July 8**__**th**__**, 2008 **_

_Peter and Charlotte have yet to return. Dad says we need to get rid of lunch altogether. I never did a huge lunch before, but now I realize that it helped me to become accustomed to this. Mr. Goddard's body is still here. It's beginning to stink. But we can't dispose of it yet. Not until we know we're clear. _

_

* * *

_

The crevice was becoming much easier to travel through; she had burned many calories during the last search, although it was unsuccessful. She easily slid through the large hole, being extremely careful to avoid scarping her cheek against the protruding pipe which had left an unsightly scrape during her last rush to their private excavation. The band-aids began to loosen due to her sweating. Ignoring the sudden drastic change in temperature, she went through the left tunnel, with the first-aid kit in her left arm. Stopping at the make-shift red mark next to the door, she bent down and pulled a loose grey "tile" and put it to her right before pulling her legs over into the hole with a firm grip on the ladders. Clenching the handle of the first-aid kit with her teeth, she descended down the dark "knothole."

She looked up, making sure that none of the machines were following her. There was only one entrance, as it was the same as there only exit. The routine had become a habit ever since a close call with Peter. He'd lucked out; a better candidate had caught the machine's attention long enough for the wry teenager to make it. They had all lucked out that day. With the current circumstances, losing the main scavenger would have been detrimental and severed any contact with the "coast guards."

She finally reached the bottom and hopped off of the ladder, fishing around her pouch for her flashlight. She stopped when she heard a small growl form her left. Flinching, she turned her head, the tension in her heart increasing to perilous proportions. She immediately relaxed as she saw the two small glowing orbs at the end of the hallway. Pulling out her flashlight, she kneeled down and pulled out a small rice cake given to her by the "neighbors" Asian cook.

"_Ssh…_come here Jerk. Come come…"

The glowing orbs suddenly blinked before a rough mewl sounded.

A German shepherd trotted toward her, his left bandaged foot dangling as his other paws padded against the relatively smooth asphalt. Tail wagging enthusiastically, the dog's panting quickened as she placed the rice cake in front of her. As the dog gobbled it up, she reached into her pouch and pulled out one of Muriel's "walkie talkies," holding her finger on the com button on the side. "I'm here."

"_Is Charlotte or Peter with you?" A feminine voice sounded from the small device. _

"No, I wasn't able to find either of them. I found a first aid kit though. I came across some Ibuprofens and liquid Tylenol though. Is he still delirious?"

"_Not so much. He's been sleeping for half the day. His fever's still up there though." _

"I have two water bottles left. I think that'll help.

"_We still have a good supply. You'll need it for tomorrow. No, wait. Never mind, Carmine really needs that water. The water we have is becoming a little dirty. We need to find another filter. Think you'll be able to see if the warehouse still have some left?" _

Amy gulped.

"The warehouse is gone mom, it collapsed two weeks ago."

"_But what about the Ca-" _

"They were caught."

A long pause drifted through the air, the only sounds of the subterranean passage was that of Jerk's panting, and the ringing of the flashlight.

"_Come to the door; the new code is 'Orange'." _

"New code? What happened?"

" We heard sounds while you were gone. We think that may have been them. We don't think 'Charter' will work anymore."

"…Alright. I'm on my way."

She cut off and placed the walkie talkie in her pouch. She beckoned the dog over. "C'mere Jerk. Come."

The dog immediately came to the girl's side, masking his limp with his speed. Giving the dog a rough pat on the head, she stood back up. After about a three-minute walk, she made it to the door she was searching for, light from the window pane illuminating the small area she was in. Taking a careful look out of both ways, she realized that she and Jerk were the only ones outside. "Orange"

She heard a series of locks jingle as she waited in front of the door.

A tall muscular middle-aged man, smelling strongly of cigarette smoke, towered over her, a smug look plastered on his face. "Took your damn time didn't ya'? Thought you'd be runnin' out and snatchin' from those kids up the road."

Amy snorted. " I got held up. Why didn't you tell me they came over?"

The man ran his burly hands through his curly stiff hair. "The misses didn' want ya' to worry. You've been uppity ever since the collapse. You've grown balls that day though. Don't know if that was a benefit we'd all want though. By the way, did you get a pack?"

She reached into the pouch and gave him an open pack of Marlboro cigarettes. "Go into the hallway; the habit's disgusting."

"Don't act like I've never smoked before kid, I-"

"I'm talking about around Carmine."

"_Tsh! _Goddard's son offered the bastard a cigarette."

"Mr. Goddard's dead."

"I said his _son." _

Amy narrowed her eyes and walked forward. "Gabriel, please don't smoke in here. I'm tired. Its past midnight. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Gabriel frowned. "Carmine's been getting worse. Your mom says he doesn't have much time to live."

Amy stared at the man. "He'll pull through."

"You're the only one that thinks so."

"It's nice to have hope."

"Hope won't get you far kid."

"We're here, are we not?"

"Depends, 'here' is not where I want to be."

"So ungrateful."

The man pulled out a lighter from his jean pocket. "You're still a church girl. I can tell." Gabriel lit the end of his cigarette. "I haven't gone to church in years. I was raised a catholic. Last time I went was when the pastor died."

"Wasn't the pastor your best friend's father?"

"My best friend's uncle."

"Oh."

"Yeah, the guy had a cardiac arrest over night."

"Amy."

The girl looked behind and saw a frail elderly woman ahead of her, clutching a bag in her trembling hands. "Ration this for Carmine please. He says its making him sick at the moment."

Amy took the bag out of the woman's hand. "Ms. Gale, mom says you also have to eat. Your getting thinner every day."

The lady shook her head. "Dear, I lived in poverty when I was younger. I can go a few days on a little. I'll be fine. I'll eat when the time comes."

"But Ms. Gale, she s-"

"Tell her we have enough food here. We have some chicken noodle soup left from Peter's search. I'm pretty sure, we'll be good for the week."

Frowning, Amy looked down at the sandwich bag. She was startled when soft pale wrinkled hands engulfed hers. She looked up into the soft weary green eyes of the elderly woman. "We're so fortunate child. Compared to the others, we are so blessed. We have food, water, shelter. We're so fortunate. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you put yourself at risk day by day. You, Charlotte, Peter, Erin always go to the outside and get us older folk the stuff we need. "The gentle frown suddenly turned into a small frown. "But please be careful. Tell your mom I want you to limit yourself going out there. It's becoming more risky."

"Speaking of risky," Gabriel interrupted, "Where's your brother?"

"We lost contact with him and dad. Last time I heard of them, they were going to West Virginia."

"You mean they…"

"No, Dad said they had to lay low. They were going to the 'red marks' for a generator."

"Oh."

"Anyway, Here is the medicine for Carmine." She told them, pulling out several bottles of ibuprofen and Tylenol. She put it in Gabriel's hands, before withdrawing one out. "We need to keep a little Tylenol for ourselves."

"You said one of the neighbor's is catatonic, right? We'll save her ibuprofen when she hurts herself." Gale assured.

Amy smiled. "Thank you. We'll be down the hall."

Gale smiled. "No problem sweetie."

Gabriel brought two fingers to his mouth a whistled. The brown canine, that was lying down next to the table, perked up and got to his feet. "Jerk, go."

"He doesn't have to stay with me." Amy assured.

"He stinks. Carmine is getting worse. We have no choice. Have him keep watch since Pete's not here."

Amy sighed. "Alright."

* * *

"Jerk's staying with us?"

Amy took off her pouch and put it on the small table. "Yeah, Carmine's having breathing problems."

Her mother merely looked down at the dog before returning to assorting the available dishes.

Amy took off her shoes and sat on the small couch in the far corner, socked feet pressing against the wall. "What I'd do for television."

"What I'd do for a hot bath. It's been getting musky lately."

"No one's been washing. And Mr. Goddard's body is still in the hallway." Amy said, the monotone in her voice reflecting barely any sign of emotion. Glancing to her side, she noticed Jerk's snout on the edge of the couch. "Sit."

The dog obediently lowered his hindquarters as Amy reached over and grabbed a thick book on the floor next to the hole in the ground.

Without looking up, her mother replied, "You finished that book several times over."

Amy merely opened the book to where she had placed a folded up article cut out as a bookmark and licked her fingertips before going to the next page. "I like the Hitch Hiker's Guide."

"I read that book when I was in school."

Amy said nothing as she continued to read.

"You know. Carmine isn't doing well. He might not make it through the week."

"He'll get better."

"Where did you ever get that optimism from?"

"Ms. Gale said that's the thing that's holding us together."

"Amy. We'll have to go."

Amy paused and looked up from her book. "What?"

"We'll have to go. We can't stay here."

"But they haven't found us yet."

"They _have._"

"What do you mean?"

Her mother stopped assorting the plastic cutleries and her once amiable face turned to that of stone. "I'm confident Carmine won't make it through the week. Once he dies, we'll have to go. Earlier today, we heard the drilling. They know we're here." A long pause. "I don't think Peter and Charlotte are going to come back. Almost a week has passed and none of the neighbors said they've seen either of them. We'll have to pack."

"Mom…" Amy felt her lips quivering. Never had she heard her mother sound so cold. "How…how could…they'll be back. Just wait, they'll be back."

"Honey," her mother said, her voice becoming more sympathetic, "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to do anymore. I want to have hope. I just can't find it. We don't have many options. I'd like to believe Carmine is going to pull through. Maybe I could be wrong and Carmine get's all better and Peter and Charlotte return. But right now, it doesn't look too likely. But they're aware that we're here now. We're all in danger."

Amy's heart remained seized in her chest; the book had fallen onto her lap and closed without a marked section.

"I'm only human sweetie." Her mother said, taking a seat at the table, upset hands folded in front of her eyes in disappointment, "I'm only human…"

Jerk looked up into the depressed face of one of his human partners before leaping on her lap, head resting on her shoulder.

Her mother stood up and took the flashlight out of the black pouch. "We have three days. In that time, if they don't return, we'll have to leave them. I'll be going into the storage bunk. I have to see how much food we have left."

Her mother walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Amy listened as her mother's footsteps began to fade as she went further and further. Wrapping her arms around Jerk's neck in a gentle hug, she buried her face into his furry matted dorsal, letting warm tears stream out after so long from withholding them.

* * *

Okay, Are some of you confused a bit? Good. That was what I was aiming for. Anyway, I'm sorry for not updating for so long. I'll try to be more active in the future, and now that life has become much easier for me to deal with, I can take a breather and actually focus.

Anyway R/R would be very pleasant, and so would friendly criticism.


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